


To Bite the Hand...

by Nobodystormcrow



Series: Opus Primus [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Creative Usage of Powers, Demigods, Gen, Hydra (Marvel), Spies & Secret Agents, War, and the Seven've beaten Heracles, seriously, these are demigods, they kill hydras for fun, why was it a good idea to call this organization hydra again?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-04-04 01:52:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14009592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nobodystormcrow/pseuds/Nobodystormcrow
Summary: A mortal war.Demigods and the House of Life exist to protect mortals from those mightier than they. But mortals have now become the greatest threat to civilization, and Hydra hunts those that are more than human. Mortalkind has threatened its guardians.Let them witness the devastation wrought when the weapons for their protection are turned against them.A series of inter-connected one-shots about how demigods can be absolutely terrifying if their abilities are turned to puny humans.





	1. Nectar and Ambrosia

For the gods, they are food. For demigods, they are a panacea. For mortals, they are anathema, "turning their blood to fire and bones to sand".  
In short, they are the perfect tool for assassination.  
Nectar and Ambrosia smell tempting, like one's own comfort food, that one dish that is closest to one's home and heart. Even mortals are attracted. This makes the sustence of the gods appear innocuous, for who would see death in something so pleasant? Their scent draws victims like moths to a flame, circling, circling, forever closer, until they touch it and are immolated. Demigods know that they are dangerous. Their explosives, made with the substance known as Greek Fire, contains the food and drink of the gods.  
These two substances are selective in those they harm. The lethal dosage for a mortal is infinitely low, while for demigods, it would take far more to just induce feverishness. A spiked drink or a shared dish and while one dies, the other is unscathed, perhaps even rejuvenated for their escape from the locale. A man (or woman) bursting into flame is rather eye-catching, after all. The same substances coating steel blades, or an injection of nectar would also do irreperable harm to those of the mortal coil.  
They are also useful for destroying bodies. Slip a drop into a fallen enemy's mouth, and so long as the corpse isn't brain-dead yet, all that will be left of the corpse would be ash. On that note, suicide pills function along the same lines, though the dosage must be more potent.  
Nectar and Ambrosia are good for more than healing. It is a fool who forgets that the original purpose of these children's existence was to create a war machine. And in this war in the shadows, nothing is not a weapon.


	2. Rivers of the Underworld

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Among those god-touched children of two worlds, there is a prince of the Underworld. Access to its resources is easy. The dead's suffering shall bring succor to the living.

**Yes, this references _Supernatural_.**

_**Among those god-touched children of two worlds, there is a prince of the Underworld. Access to its resources is easy. The dead's suffering shall bring succor to the living, and drag others into death.** _

_**Most notable of the resources of Hades are its rivers five.** _

There are five rivers of the Underworld. Lethe and Styx and Cocytus and Acheron and Phlegethon. They differ in their effect upon their victims, but their essence is the same. They are the rivers of the realm of the dead, its moats and its ducking ponds. They ensure the security of Hades’ realm and the suffering of his serfs.

Phlegethon is the sustainer. It is the artery of Tartarus, the energy of Hades, all of its measly vitality. It flows under the gardens of Persephone and her husband’s palace, fuels the sun in Elysium, and runs through the fields of pain and suffering as it chains the tormented to eternal wakefulness.

Its counterpart is Cocytus, the sluggish vein to its red-golden arterial rapids. Sorrow leads to despair which then leads to the sleep of death—or is it the sleep of the dead? Either way, few pass it without losing their will to live. They drown in despair, and do not escape, collapse catatonic upon its icy banks. Cocytus is a moat.

Born of Cocytus is the Acheron, suffering, pain, and most crushing of all, guilt. It is one of the two rivers which water Nyx’s Nightmares, the other being Phlegethon. To stand by the streamside would break a lesser man, or even a greater one, for is it not the greatest who shoulder the heaviest burdens and suffer the greatest losses? No untrained mind survives a submersion into its unfathomable depths, and it is tempting, so very tempting, to give in, to slip into its waters—you deserve no better, after all. Acheron breaks the righteous and the good. It shatters and shapes the steel-spined into self-recriminating wrecks.

Then there is the Styx. It is the border between life and death, liquid, all-consuming hatred. It burns cold until it is cold enough to burn, it is acid, corrosive, clogged with broken dreams and traversed only by Charon’s ferry. The Styx is the ultimate and outermost moat of the land of the dead, the first and last defense. You notice that there have only been four rivers written here. The fifth is Lethe. Oblivion. Non-being and the void. A concept beyond mortal comprehension. Of Hades’ rivers, it flows apart, never converging into the witchfire-filled marsh with the other four. The rivers above were introduced in the order of usage. When a soul rebels, it is first tortured with fire, and when fire does not destroy it, despair will neutralize it. Like a song,

If that despair doesn’t work,

Then guilt’s river will make you hurt;

And if guilt is truly not enough,

The Styx will certainly be up to snuff.

Sung to the tune of “Mama’ll buy you a mocking bird”, this refers to the escalating series of procedures a dangerous soul will be subjected to. If none of the above methods work, then the final solution is complete erasure from existence. Lethe is a permanent solution to troublesome souls, and its potency only increases with prolonged exposure. Certain spirits and divinities may have some degree of immunity, but the closer they go to the origin of this river that, according to Dante, flows from the steps of God’s throne, and which, according to the lore of Night’s Queen, eldest and endless, originates from the entity who was the end, as Yahweh was the beginning, Amara. Lethe is the end of all things. For without memory, without experience, without life, there is no identity. A blank slate, wiped clean. No skill, no talent, no desire. All that ever made an individual now gone, leaving a _Tabula Rasa_ in its place.

That is the answer for “dispositions”. Imperfect erasure results in bleed-through from previous lives. That, combined with the uniqueness of each shell of flesh, combine to create a new person.


	3. Rivers of the Underworld: Lethe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, I wanted to try a different style, since the only person who talks like a Shakespeare character is 8-5-6, whom we have met in Of the Power of Names. This is supposed to be easily readable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of original terminology: MD, not for Medical Doctor, but Multiple-Dimensioned, as in existing between two worlds—the mortal and the mystical.

_Excerpt from the Introduction to AEGIIIS, the general operative_ _’s guide._

_Advanced_

_Extraterrestrial_

_&_

_General_

_Intelligence_

_Investigation_

_&_

_Interaction_

_with the_

_Supernatural_

**LETHE**

Lethe is the easiest of the rivers really. Hypnos’s cabin has a branch that drips its water, infused though it may be with the god’s power, and mixed with a touch Cocytus’s soporific mist. Burn an offering to the poppy guy before taking a bowlful and you’re all set! Then you bottle all the stuff into more manageable portions.

Small 5-milileter ampoules are more than enough to take away a few weeks of memories, while one-milliliter ones take care of a few days. Amnesiacs that erase hours are contained in small pipette bottles, and even they are prone to overdose. A preferred method of application is, believe it or not, a fountain pen. Fill the pen with Lethe-laced ink, scribble on your victim’s tongue, and ta-da! Instant mind-wipe with a handy knock-out function attached. According to Forgery Division, Lethe ink is also used to write letters to influence people mentally. Sort of like a contact poison. R&D&S (the “S” stands for sorcery) also make Lethe hydrogel bandages for incapacitating enemies.

For the high-tech applications, you also get aerosols—don’t breathe them in, mortals might be more vulnerable, but the standard concentration is perfectly effective on us MDs unless your name happens to be Percy Jackson/Nico di Angelo. Delayed detonation times and stuff are standard, so, ask your mentors about that when you get to the PracApp part of your training.

NOTES:

The water of oblivion belongs to the darkest category of tool that any operative will ever use. It deals directly with the mind and identity, and their rewriting. This is the most immoral of actions, the subversion of the mind, for the alteration of the mind is the alteration of the self, and the erasure of the mind is the erasure of the self, both are the death of identity, and a travesty far transcending murder. Lethe is permanent, and while death is reversible, and the soul is unchanged after a body breathes its last, the unmaking of memory is a null that is an absolute termination of one.

That is far worse than murder, which is only the displacement of a soul from this mortal coil.


	4. Phlegethon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Phlegethon is the sustainer. It is the artery of Tartarus, the energy of Hades, all of its measly vitality. It flows under the gardens of Persephone and her husband's palace, fuels the sun in Elysium, and runs through the fields of pain and suffering as it chains the tormented to eternal wakefulness._  
>  Of the five rivers of the underworld, you will use this one the most.

_Excerpt from the Introduction to AEGIIIS, the general operative's guide._

_Advanced_

_Extraterrestrial_

_General_

_Intelligence_

_Investigation_

_Interaction_

_with the_

_Supernatural_

* * *

**SUPPLY: PHLEGETHON WATER (CANTEENED)**

* * *

The Phlegethon is the River of Fire (different from the Egyptian Lake of Fire), and its waters are easily distinguishable in your standard pack. They are in a metal canteen, since they look and behave like liquid fire, giving off light and heat, which might give away your position or identity. The Phlegethon is also called the River of Healing (see UNDERWORLD: LOCATIONS/RIVERS/PHLEGETHON for specifics). While its waters are less effective and much more painful than Nectar and Ambrosia when it comes to healing, there are certain advantages:

1\. SAFETY: Unlike Nectar and Ambrosia, there is no risk of overdose. **However,** Phlegethon water is very painful, and overdoses may result in trauma despite the MD disposition against PTSD. Remember! This comes from the underworld and is used to torture damned souls!

2\. UNIVERSALNESS: Phlegethon water is safe for mortal consumption, but with the same restrictions above.

3\. VERSITALITY: Though the water is used for healing, it is fire made liquid, so it can substitute as flame in a pinch!

4\. EFFICIACY: Phlegethon's water may not heal like the food and drink of the gods, or the Egyptian's potions, but it maintains. It is of the Underworld, and so long as there is life in a body, it will keep Death at bay.

As a result, there are many applications for it. The most common are the following, but creativity and out-of-the-box thinking may just save your life some day, so don't limit yourself to these!

1\. Disinfection

2\. Healing

3\. Refueling

4\. First-aid on mortals. NOTE: best used in conjunction with Lethe.

5\. Light. Pour some into a glass container, and you get an instant smokeless torch, but have caution, for in addition to light, fire give off heat.

6\. Fire-starting. In the absence of matches or lighters, pour a small amount on tinder to light a flame.

7\. Last-resort life support. See above for risk. Usage is unadvised without a trained medic or unconscious patient.

8\. Interrogation.

* * *

**NOTES:**

* * *

Lethe and Phlegethon represent the dichotomy of oblivion and eternity. Both are inflicted only upon the guiltiest and the most dangerous. While Lethe neutralizes dangers, it is Phlegethon that tortures. It prevents respite from suffering, chaining the victim to the eternal torment of consciousness. Though to some, complete unmaking is a travesty far greater than endless pain, it is nigh impossible to maintain those values when chained in the river, drowning in flame and burning inside and out. Fire in the lungs and no air, light-headed but never the merciful reprieve of darkness, pain, heat so great that it was cold, yet unlike with a body of flesh, the nerves don't fry to grant unfeelingness. Phlegethon is the pain of the body, and it breaks many. It is Tartarus' arterial blood, red and spurting too, so it is life in death. Mistress of this river is the Nightmare Life-in-Death. As described by _The Rime of the Ancient Mariner_ ,

_Her lips were red, her looks were free,_

_Her locks were yellow as gold:_

_Her skin was as white as leprosy,_

_The Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she,_

_Who thicks man's blood with cold._

To turn the pain of the dead into aid for the living is as great defiance of death as the resurrection of a soul, and it is also a reflection of the beauty of the power of those who live in more worlds than one. The ability and access of the divine, combined with mortal ingenuity and their disregard for rules make them able to accomplish much more than a denizen of the single world. The price for this is obvious: they will never belong. Whether as hidden gods among men, or as mere men among gods, they are different, and no matter how integrated they are, they will always have a foot in another world. For most, this is the state of affairs, and they live lives that are, if not happy, then at least full and not unwelcome. Beneficial to this state of affairs is the company of those with similar experiences. For that reason, isolation and exclusion, whether out of fear or awe, is as great a sin as using racial slurs or objectifying individuals, and it has far more drastic consequences. Suicide, defection, snapping and murdering everything within reach have all been results of isolation.

Thus, though it is immoral and pointless to command the hearts and minds of you all, remember, so long as this shadowed war continues, _no one shall be broken by solitude, whispers, or mockery_. Let this Stygian Oath, sworn with blood and tears and sorcery, **BE MADE KNOWN**.

**Author's Note:**

> Prompts, Comments, and Kudos are all appreciated!


End file.
